vs that are of the Clergie §. 4. The explication of the words By manifestation of the Spirit here our Apostle vnderstandeth none other thing than hee doth by the adiectiue word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the first and by the substantiue word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the last verse of the Chapter Both which put together doe signifie those spirituall gifts and graces whereby God enableth men and especially Church-men to the duties of their particular Callings for the generall good Such as are those particulars which are named in the next following verses a Vers. 8-10 the word of wisdome the word of knowledge faith the gifts of healing workings of miracles prophecy discerning of spirits diuers kinds of tongues interpretation of tongues All which and all other of like nature and vse because they are wrought by that one and selfe-same b Vers. 11. Spirit which diuideth to euery one seuerally as he will are therefore called c Vers. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spirituall gifts and here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the manifestation of the Spirit The word Spirit though in Scripture it haue many other significations §. 5. By Spirit is meant the Holy Ghost yet in this place I conceiue to be vnderstood directly of the Holy Ghost the third Person in the euer-blessed Trinitie For first in vers 3. that which is called the Spirit of God in the former part is in the later part called the Holy Ghost a Vers. â— I giue you to vnderstand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Iesus accursed and that no man can say that Iesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost Againe that varietie of gifts which in vers 4. is said to proceed from the b Vers. 4-6 same Spirit is said likewise in vers 5. to proceed from the same Lord and in vers 6. to proceed from the same God and therefore such a Spirit is meant as is also Lord and God and that is onely the holy Ghost And againe in those words in vers 11. c Vers 11. all these worketh that one and the selfe-same Spirit diuiding to euery man seuerally as he will the Apostle ascribeth to this Spirit the collation and distribution of such gifts according to the free power of his owne will and pleasure which free power belongeth to none but God alone d Vers. 18. who hath set the members euery one in the body as it hath pleased him Which yet ought not so to bee vnderstood of the Person of the Spirit as if the Father §. 6. not as excluding the other Persons and the Sonne had no part or fellowship in this businesse For all the Actions and operations of the Diuine Persons those onely excepted which are of intrinsecall and mutuall relation are the ioynt and vndiuided workes of the whole three Persons according to the common knowne maxime constantly and vniformely receiued in the Catholike Church Opera Trinitatis ad extra sunt indiuisa And as to this particular concerning gifts the Scriptures are cleare Wherein as they are ascribed to God the Holy Ghost in this Chapter so they are elsewhere ascribed to God the Father a Iam. 1.17 Euery good gift and euery perfect giuing is from aboue from the Father of Lights I am 1. and elsewere to God the Sonne b Ephes. 4.7 Vnto euery one of vs is giuen grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ Ephes. 4. Yea and it may be that for this very reason in the three verses next before my text these three words are vsed Spirit in vers 4. Lord in vers 5. and God in vers 6. to giue vs intimation that c Ne gratia donum diuisum sit per personas Patri Filij et Sp. Sancti sed indiscretae vnitatis naturae trium vnum opus intellâ—gatur Ambros in 1. Cor. 7. ca. 61. these spirituall gifts proceed equally and vndiuidedly from the whole three Persons from God the Father and from his Sonne Iesus Christ our Lord and from the eternall Spirit of them both the Holy Ghost as from one entire indiuisible and coessentiall Agent §. 7. but by way of appropriation But for that we are grosse of vnderstanding and vnable to conceiue the distinct Trinity of Persons in the Vnity of the Godhead otherwise than by apprehending some distinction of their operations and offices to-vs-ward it hath pleased the wisedome of God in the holy Scriptures which being written for our sakes were to be fitted to our capacities so farre to condescend to our weaknesse and dulnesse as to attribute some of those great and common workes to one person and some to another after a more speciall manner than vnto the rest although indeed and in truth none of the three persons had more or lesse to doe than other in any of those great and common-workes This manner of speaking Diuines vse to call a V. Aquin. 1. qu. 39 7. Appropriation By which appropriation as Power is ascribed to the Father and Wisedome to the Sonne so is Goodnesse to the Holy Ghost And therefore as the Worke of Creation wherein is specially seene the mighty power of God is appropriated to the Father and the worke of Redemption wherein is specially seene the wisedome of God to the Sonne so the workes of sanctification and the infusion of habituall graces whereby the good things of God are communicated vnto vs is appropriated vnto the Holy Ghost And for this cause the gifts thus communicated vnto vs from God are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spirituall gifts and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the manifestation of the Spirit Wee see now why spirit but then §. 8. What is meant by Manifestation why manifestation The word as most other verballs of that forme may be vnderstood either in the actiue or passiue signification And it is not materiall whether of the two wayes we take it in this place both being true and neither improper For these spirituall Gifts are the manifestation of the spirit Actiuely because by these the spirit manifesteth the will of God vnto the Church these being the instruments and meanes of conueighing the knowledge of saluation vnto the people of God And they are the manifestation of the spirit Passiuely too because where any of these gifts especially in any eminent sort appeared in any person it was a manifest euidence that the Spirit of God wrought in him As we reade in Act. 10. that they of the Circumcision were astonished a Act. 10.45 46. When they saw that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost If it bee demanded But how did that appeare it followeth in the next verse for they heard them speake with tongues c. The spirituall Gift then is a b Id est Donum spiritus quo dono spiritus suam in homine praesentiam declarat Metonymia effecti Piscat in schol hîc manifestation of
by their Power nor their wisest Counsellors by their Policie nor Balaam himselfe by his Sorcery could bring vpon them This damned counsell was followed but too soone and prospered but too well §. with the successe thereof both in their Sinne The daughters of Moab come into the Tents of Israel and by their blandishments put out the eyes and steale away the hearts of Gods people whom besotted once with lust it was then no hard matter to leade whither they listed and by wanton insinuations to draw them to sit with them in the Temples and to accompanie them at the a Num. 25.2 feasts and to eate with them of the sacrifices yea and to bow the knees with them to the honour of their Idols Insomuch as Israel b Psal. 106.28 ioyned themselues to Baal-peor and ate the sacrifices of that dead and abominable Idol at the least for all Idols are such if not as most haue thought a c quem Graecia Priapum dixit Hist. Scolast in Num. c. 34. alij secuti Hieronymum in c 9. Osee 1. cont Io. 12. See Vatabl. in Num. 25.3 Seldem Synt. 1. de DIs Syr. c. 5. Lael Biscioâ— 3. hor. subces 20. beastly and obscene Idoll withall That was their sinne And now may Balak saue his money §. 8. and Punishment and Balaam spare his paines there is no need of hiring or being hired to curse Whoremongers and Idolaters These are two plaguy sinnes and such as wil bring a curse vpon a people without the helpe of a Coniurer When that God who is a a Exod. 20 5. iealous God and iealous of nothing more than his b Esa. 42.8 honour shall see that people whom he had made c Deut. 7.6 choise of from among all the nations of the earth to be his owne peculiar people and betrothed to himselfe by an euerlasting d Ezek. 16.8 Couenant to e Ibid. 38. breake the Couenant of Wedlocke with him and to strumpet it with the daughters and Idols of Moab what can bee expected other than that his iealousie should be turned into furie and that his fierce wrath should f Psal. 106.29 breake-in vpon them as a deluge and ouerwhelme them with a sudden destruction His patience so farre tempted and with such an vnworthie prouocation can suffer no longer But at his command g Num. 25.4.5 Moses striketh the Rulers and at Moses his command the vnder-Rulers must strike each in their seuerall regiments those that had offended and hee himselfe also striketh with his owne hand by a plague destroying of them in one day h 1 Cor. 10.8 the other thousand Num. 25.9 it seemeth were those that were hanged vp by Moses and slaine by the Rulers three and twentie thousand §. 9. Zimri's prouocation If that plague had lasted manie dayes Israel had not lasted manie dayes But the people by their plague made sensible of their sinne humbled themselues as it should seeme the verie first day of the plague in a solemne and a Num. 25.6 generall assembly weeping and mourning both for Sinne and Plague before the doore of the Tabernacle of the Congregation And they were now in the heat of their holy sorrow and deuotions when loe b Ibid. 14. Zimri a Prince of a chiefe house in one of their Tribes in the heate of his pride and lust commeth openly in the c Ibid. 6. face of Moses and all the Congregation and bringeth his Minion with him Cosbi the daughter of one of the d Compare Num. 25.15 with Num. 31.8 fiue Kings of Midian into his Tent there to commit filthinesse with her §. 10. and his execution Doubtlesse Moses the Captaine and Eleâ—zar the Priest and all Israel that saw this shamelesse pranke of that leud couple saw it with griefe enough But Phinehes enraged with a pious indignation to see such foule affront giuen to God the Magistrate and the Congregation at such a heauie time and in such open manner for that verie sinne for which they then lay vnder Gods hand thought there was something more to be done than bare weeping and therefore his bloud warmed with an holy zeale hee a Num. 25.7.8 starteth vp forthwith maketh to the Tent where these two great personages were and as they were in the act of their filthinesse speedeth them both at once and nayâ—eth them to the place with his Iaueline And the next thing wee heare is God well pleased with the b ibid. 11. zeale of his seruant and the execution of those malefactors is appeased towards his people and withdraweth his hand and his plague from them And of that deliuerance my Text speaketh Then stood vp Phinehes and executed iudgement and so the Plague was stayed The Person the instrument to worke this deliuerance for Israel was Phinehes §. 11. The Person of Phinebes considered Hee was the sonne of Eleazar who was then High Priest in immediate succession to his father Aaron not long before deceased and did himselfe afterward succeed in the High Priesthood vnto Eleazar his Father A wise a godly and a zealous man employed afterwards by the State of Israel in the greatest affaires both of a Num. 31.6 Warre and b Ios. 22.13.31.32 Ambassy But it was this Heroicall act of his in doing execution vpon those two great audacious offenders which got him the first and the greatest and the lastingst renowne Of which Act more anon when we come to it In his Person wee will consider onely what his calling and condition was and what congruitie there might be betweene what he was and what he did He was of the Tribe of Leui and that whole Tribe was set apart for the c Num. 1. â—9 c. seruice of the Tabernacle And he was of the sonnes of Aaron and so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Familie and Linage of the High Priests and the Priests office was to offer sacrifices and to burne incense and to pray and make attonement for the People Neither Leuite nor Priest had to intermeddle with matters of Iudicature vnlesse in some few causes and those for the most part concerning matters either meerely or mixtly Ecclesiasticall but neither to giue sentence nor to doe execution in matters and causes meerely Ciuill as by any right or vertue of his Leuiticall or Priestly office §. 12. The Spiritual Power doth not include the Temporall The more vnreasonable is the High Priest of Rome to challenge to himselfe any temporall or ciuill iurisdiction as virtually annexed to his spirituall Power or necessarily deriued thence TempluÌ„ and Praetorium the Chaire and the Throne the Altar and the Bench the Sheepehooke and the Scepter the Keyes and the Sword though they may sometimes concurre vpon the same person yet the Powers remaine perpetually distinct and independant and such as doe not of necessity inferre the one the other Our Sauiours a Luk. 22.26 Vos autem non
was threatned though not presently is yet e 4. Kin. 10.10 at last performed yet where is his Iustice the while being a f 1. Pet. 1.17 God that without respect of persons rendereth to euery man according to his own workes and will g Exod. 34.7 not acquite the guilty neither condemne the innocent thus to seuer the Guilt the Punishment and to lay the Iudgement which hee spareth from the Father vpon the Sonne from the more wicked Father vpon the lesse wicked Sonne §. 3 and Diuision of the Text. Thus God to magnifie the riches of his Mercy is content to put his Holinesse and his Truth and his Iustice to a kinde of venture That so his afflicted ones might know on what obiect especially to fasten the eies of their soules not on his Holinesse not on his Truth not on his Iustice not onely nor chiefly on these but on his Mercy Hee seeketh more generall glory in and would haue vs take more special knowledge of and affoordeth vs more singular comfort from his Mercy than any of the rest as if he desired we should esteeme him vnholy or vntrue or vniust or any thing rather than vnmercifull Yet is he neither vnholy nor vntrue nor vniust in any of his proceedings with the sons of men but a Psal 145.17 righteous in all his waies and holy in all his workes and true in all his words And in this particular of his proceedings with King Ahab at this time I hope by his blessed assistance so to acquite his Holinesse and Truth and Iustice from all sinister imputations as that hee may be not onely magnified in his mercy but iustified also in the rest and b Psal 51.4 cleare when he is iudged as we shall be thereunto occasioned now and hereafter in the handling of this Scripture Wherein are three maine things considerable First the Ground or rather the Occasion of Gods dealing so fauourably with Ahab namely Ahabs humiliation Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himselfe before me because hee humbleth himselfe before me I will not c. Secondly the great Fauour shewed to Ahab thereupon namely the suspension of a Iudgement denounced I will not bring the euill in his dayes Thirdly the Limitation of that fauour it is but a suspension for a time no vtter remoueall of the iudgement But in his sonnes dayes will I bring the euill vpon his house Wherein wee shall be occasioned to enquire how the first of these may stand with Gods Holinesse the second with his Truth the third with his Iustice. And first of Ahabs humiliation Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himselfe before mee This Ahab was King of Israel §. 4. Ahabs person considered that is King ouer those ten Tribes which reuolted from Rehoboam the sonne of Salomon and claue to Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat Search the whole sacred storie in the bookes of Kings and Chronicles and vnlesse we will be so verie charitable as notwithstanding manie strong presumptions of his Hypocrisie to exempt Iehu the sonne of Nimshi and that is but one of twentie wee shall not finde in the whole List and Catalogue of the Kings of Israel one good one that claue vnto the Lord with an vpright heart Twentie Kings of Israel and not one or but one good and yet than this Ahab of the twentie not one worse It is said in the sixteenth Chapter of this booke that a 3. King 16.30 Ahab the sonne of Omri did euill in the sight of the Lord aboue all that were before him at verse 30 at verse 33. that b Ibid. 33. he did more to prouoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the Kings of Israel that were before him and at verse 25. of this Chapter that c vers 25. hîc there was none like vnto Ahab which did sell himself to worke wickednesse in the sight of the Lord. An Oppressour hee was and a Murtherer and an Idolater and a Persecuter of that holy Truth which God had plentifully reuealed by his Prophets and powerfully confirmed by Miracles and mercifully declared by many gracious deliuerances euen to him in such manner as that hee could not but know it to be the Truth and therfore an Hypocrite and in all likelihoood an obstinate sinner against the holy Ghost and a Castaway §. 5. and his carriage with the Obseruations thence This is Ahab this the man But what is his carriage what doth hee hee humbleth himselfe before the Lord. Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himselfe before me The manner and occasion of his humbling is set downe a little before at verse 27. And it came to passe when Ahab heard those words the words of a vers 20. 24. hîc Eliah the Prophet dealing plainly and roundly with him for his hatefull Oppression and Murther that he rent his cloathes and put sack-cloth vpon his flesh and fasted and lay in sack-cloth and went softly And that is the humbling here spoken and allowed of and for which God here promiseth that hee will not bring the euill in his daies Lay all all this together the man and his ill conditions and his present carriage with the occasion and successe of it and it offereth three notable things to our consideration See first how farre an Hypocrite a Castaway may goe in the outward performance of holy duties and particularly in the practice of Repentance here is Ahab humbled such a man and yet so penitent See againe secondly how deepe Gods word though in the mouth but of weake instruments when he is pleased to giue strength vnto it pierceth into the consciences of obstinate sinners and bringeth the proudest of them vpon their knees in despight of their hearts here is Ahab quelled by Eliah such a great one by such a weake one See yet againe thirdly how prone God is to mercy and how ready to apprehend any aduantage as it were and occasion to shew compassion here is Ahab humbled and his iudgement adiourned such a reall substantiall fauour and yet vpon such an empty shadow of repentance Of these three at this time in their order and of the first first An Hypocrite may goe very farre in the outward performances of holy duties §. 6. Obseru 1. How far an Hypocrite may goe in the performance of holy duties For the right conceiuing of which assertion Note first that I speake not now of the common graces of Illumination and Edification and good dexterity for the practising of some particular Calling which gifts with sundrie other like are oftentimes found euen in such apparantly wicked and prophane men as haue not so much as a 2 Mim 3.5 the forme much lesse the power of godlinesse but I speake euen of those Graces which de totâ specie if they bee true and syncere are the vndoubted blessed fruites of Gods holy renewing Spirit of sanctification such as are Repentance Faith Hope Ioy Humility Patience Temperance Meekenesse Zeale Reformation c.
orbita culpae §. 20. 3. or education A third meanes of conueying vices from parents to children is Education when parents traine and bring vp their children in those sinfull courses wherein themselues haue liued and delighted So couetous worldlings are euer distilling into the eares of their children precepts of parsimony and good husbandry reading them lectures of thrift and inculcating principles of getting and sauing a Iuuenal Satyr 14. Sunt quaedam vitiorum elementa his protinus illos imbuet coget vitiorum ediscere sordes Idle wandring Beggars traine vp their children in a trade of begging and lying and cursing and filching and all idlenesse and abominable filthinesse And idolatrous parents how carefull they are to nuzzle vp their Posterity in Superstition and Idolatry I would our protest Popelings and halfe-baked Protestants did not let vs see but too often Wretched and accursed is our supine carelessenesse if these mens wicked diligence whose first care for the fruite of their bodies is to poyson their soules by sacrificing their sonnes and daughters to Idols shall rise vp in iudgement against vs and condemne our foule neglect in not seasoning the tender yeeres of our children with such religious godly and vertuous b Eph. 6.4 informations as they are caâ—â—ble of §. 21. tread in their fathers steps How euer it be whether by Nature Example or Education one or more or all of these certaine it is that most times sinnes a reâ—lit ad authores genus Stirpâ—mque primam degener sanguis refert Senec. in Hippol. act 3. passe a long from the father to the son and so downeward by a kind of lineall descent from predecessours to posterity and that for the most part with b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Homer Odyst β. advantage and encrease whole families being tainted with the speciall vices of their stocke Iohn Baptist speaketh of c Math. 3.7 a generation of vipers and if wee should but obserue the conditions of some families in a long line of succession might wee not espie here and there euen whole generations of Drunkards and generations of Sweareres and generations of Idolaters and generations of Wordlings and generations of seditious and of enuious and of riotous and of haughty and of vncleane persons and of sinnes in other kindes This vngodly king Ahab see how all that come of him taste of him and haue some spice and relish of his euill manners Of his sonne Ahaziah that next succeeded him in the kingdome of Israel the Text saith in the next Chapter that d 3. King 22.52 he walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother And another Ahaziah king of Iudah the grand-child of Iehosaphat by the fathers side and of Ahab by the mothers drew infection from the mother and so trode in the steps rather of this his wicked grandfather Ahab than of his good grandfather Iehosophat and of him therefore the Scripture saith remarkeably in 4. King 8. e 4 King 8 27. He walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did euill in the sight of the Lord as did the house of Ahab for hee was the sonne in Law of the house of Ahab Little doth any man thinke what hurt he may doe vnto and what plague he may bring vpon his posterity by ioyning himselfe or them in too strict a bond of nearenesse with an ill or an idolatrous house or stocke Here we see is Ahabs house taxed not his person onely euen the whole familie and broode and kin of them branch and roote And that Iehoram also who is the son here spoken of and meant in my Text did f 4 King 3.2 Patrisare too as well as the rest of the kindred and take after the father though not in that height of impiety and idolatry as his father is plaine from the sequele of the Story And so doing and partaking of the Euills of sin with his father why might he not also in justice partake of the Euills of punishment with his father §. 22. or secondly are possessors of something from their fathers with Gods curse cleauing thereunto Secondly the sinnes of the fathers are visited vpon the children sometimes as possessours of something which their fathers left them with Gods curse cleauing vnto it As in the Law not onely he that had an a See Leuit. 15.2 11. issue of vncleanenesse made them vncleane that touched him but euen the saddle or stoole hee sate vpon the cloathes hee wore the bed whereon he lay any vessell of earth or of wood that he did but touch was enough to bring legall pollution and vncleanesse vpon any other person that should but touch them So not onely our fathers sinnes if wee touch them by imitation but euen their b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euripid. lands and goods and houses and other things that were theirs are sufficient to deriue Gods curse vpon vs if wee doe but hold them in possession What is gotten by any euill and vniust and vnwarrantable meanes is in Gods sight and estimation no better than stollen Now stollen goods we know though they haue passed through neuer so many hands before that man is answereable for in whose hands they are found and in whose custody and possession they are God hateth not sinne onely but the very monuments of sinne too and his curse fasteneth not onely vpon the agent but vpon the bruite and dead materialls too and where theft or oppression or periury or sacriledge haue layed the foundation and reared the house there the c Zach. 5.4 Curse of God creepeth in betweene the walls and seelings and lurketh close within the stones and the timber and as a fretting moath or canker insensibly gnaweth asunder the pins and the ioynts of the building till it haue vnframed it and resolued it into a ruinous heape for which mischiefe there is no remedy no preseruation from it but one and that is free and speedy Restitution For any thing we know what Ahab the father got without iustice Iehoram the sonne held without scruple We doe not find that euer hee made restitution of Naboths vineyard to the right heire and it is like enough hee did not and then betweene him and his father there was but this difference the father was the thiefe and he the receiuer which two the Law seuereth not either in guilt or punishment but wrappeth them equally in the same guilt and in the same punishment d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phocyl 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And who knoweth whether the very holding of that vineyard might not bring vpon him the curse of his fathers oppression it is plaine that e 4 King 9.25.26 vineyard was the place where the heauiest part of that curse ouertooke him But that which is the vpshot of all and vntieth all the knots both of this and of all other doubts §. 23. that can be made against Gods iustice in
where all haue deserued the punishment it is left to the discretion of the Iudge whom he will picke out the Father or the Sonne the Gouernour or the Subiect the Ring-leader or the Follower the Greater or the Lesser offender to shew exemplary iustice vpon as he shall see expedient I say all these and other like considerations many though they are to be admitted as true and obserued as vsefull yet they are such as belong rather to Gods Prouidence and his Wisedome than to his Iustice. If therefore thou knowest not the very particular reason why God should punish thee in this or that manner or vpon this or that occasion let it suffice thee that the Counsells and purposes of God are secret and thou art not to enquire with scrupulous curiosity into the dispensation and courses of his Prouidence farther than it hath pleased him either to reueale it in his word or by his manifest workes to discouer it vnto thee But whatsoeuer thou doest neuer make question of his Iustice. Begin first to make inquirie into thine owne selfe and if after vnpartiall search thou there findest not corruption enough to deserue all out as much as God hath layed vpon thee then complaine of iniustice but not before And so much for the doubts §. 33. The first inference Let vs now from the premises raise some instructions for our vse First Parents wee thinke haue reason to be carefull and so they haue for their children and to desire and labour as much as in them lyeth their wel doing Here is a faire course then for you that are parents and haue children to care for Doe you that which is good and honest and right and they are like to fare the better for it Wouldest thou then Brother leaue thy lands and thy estate to thy childe entire and free from encombrances It is an honest care but here is the way a Iuuenal Satyr 14. Abstineas igitur damnandis Leaue them free from the b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isocratâ—s guilt of thy sinnes which are able to comber them beyond any statute or morgage If not the bond of Gods Law if not the care of thine owne soule if not the feare of hell if not the inward checkes of thine owne conscience c Iuuenal Satyr 14. At peccaturo obstet tibi filius infans at the least let the good of thy poore sweet infants restraine thee from doing that sinne which might pull downe from heauen a plague vpon them and theirs Goe to then doe not applaud thy selfe in thy wittie villanies when thou hast circumuented and prospered when Ahab-like thou hast d Vers. 19. hîc killed and taken possession when thou hast larded thy leaner reuenues with fat collops sacrilegiously cut out of the sides or flankes of the Church and hast nayled all these with all the appurtenances by sines and vowchers and entayles as firme as Law can make them to thy childe and his childe and his childes childe for euer After all this stirre cast vp thy bills and see what a goodly bargaine thou hast made thou hast damned thy selfe to vndoe thy childe thou hast brought a curse vpon thine owne soule to purchase that for thy childe which shall bring a curse both vpon it and him When thy indentures were drawne and thy learned Counsell feed to peruse the Instrument and with exact seuerity to ponder with thee euery clause and syllable therein could none of you spie a flaw in that clause with all and singular th' appurtenances neither obserue that thereby thou didst settle vpon thy posteritie together with thy estate the wrath and vengeance and curse of God which is one of those appurtenances Hadst thou not a faithfull Counsellour within thine owne brest if thou wouldest but haue conferred and aduised with him plainly and vndissemblingly that could haue told thee thou hadst by thy oppression and iniustice ipso facto cut off the entaile from the issue euen long before thou hadst made it But if thou wouldest leaue thy posterity a firme and secure and durable estate doe this rather Purchase for them by thy charitable workes the prayers and blessings of the poore settle vpon them the fruites of a religious sober and honest education bequeath them the legacie of thy good example in all vertuous and godly liuing and that portion thou leauest them besides of earthly things be it much or little be sure it be e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost. in Eph. hom 2. well gotten otherwise neuer looke it f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pausan. in Corinthiacis should prosper with them g 1 Cor. 5.6 A little leauen leaueneth the whole lumpe and sowreth it and a little ill gotten like a gangrene spreadeth through the whole estate and worse than aqua fortis or the poysoned h ardeo Quantum nec atro delibutus Hercules Nessi cruorc Horat. Epod. 17. see Sophocl in Trachin shirt that Dejanira gaue Hercules cleaueth vnto it and feedeth vpon it and by little and little gnaweth and fretteth and consumeth it to nothing And surely Gods Iustice hath wonderfully manifested it selfe vnto the world in this kinde sometimes euen to the publicke astonishment and admiration of all men that men of ancient families and great estates well left by their Ancestors and free from debts legacies or other encombrances not notedly guilty of any expencefull sinne or vanity but wary and husbandly and carefull to thriue in the world not kept vnder with any great burden of needy friends or charge of children not much hindered by any extraordinary losses or casualties of fire theeues suretiship or suites that such men I say should yet sinke and decay and runne behinde hand in the world and their estates crumble and milder away and come to nothing and no man knoweth how No question but they haue sinnes enough of their owne to deserue all this and ten times more than all this but yet withall who knoweth but that it might nay who knoweth not that sometimes it doth so legible now and then are Gods iudgements come vpon them for the greedinesse and auarice and oppression and sacriledge and iniustice of their not long foregoing Ancestors You that are parents take heed of these sins It may be for some other reasons knowne best to himselfe God suffereth you to goe on your owne time and suspendeth the iudgements your sinnes haue deserued for a space as here he did Ahabs vpon his humiliation but be assured sooner or later vengeance will ouertake you or yours for it You haue a Hab. 2.9 coueted an euill couetousnesse to your house and there hangeth a judgement ouer your house for it as raine in the cloudes which perhaps in your sonnes perhaps in your grand-childs dayes some time or other will come dashing downe vpon it and ouerwhelme it Thinke not the vision is for many descents to come de male quaesitis vix gaudet tertius haeres seldome doth the
11.20 17.10 searcher of the hearts and reynes of others For these and sundry other Reasons it commeth to passe that Hypocrites and Castawayes doe oftentimes goe so farre as they doe in the outward performances of Holy duties §. 9. Inferences thence 1. of terrour against prophanenesse Now if men may goe thus farre and yet bee in the state of damnation what hope then First of heauen for such prophane vngodly wretches as are so farre from hauing a 2 Tim. 3.5 the power as that they haue not so much as the least shew of godlinesse What will become of those that b Psalm 1.1 sit them downe in the chaire of scorners and despise the good word of God and make a scoffe of those men that desire to square their liues by that rule when some of them that c Mark 6.20 heare it gladly and d Math. 13.20 receiue it with ioy and are content to bee ordered by it in many things shall yet goe to hell Certainly Ahab and Herod and such cursed miscreants shall rise vp in iudgement against these men and condemne them and they shall haue e Math. 24.51 their portion with Hypocrites shall I say Alas wofull is their case if their portion fall but there but let them take heede lest their portion be not so good as the Hypocrites and that it be not ten times easier for Ahab and Herod and the whole crew of such Hypocrites at the day of iudgement than for them Secondly what a starke shame would it be for vs §. 10. 2. of exhortation to abound in the fruites of godlinesse who haue receiued the a Rom. 8.23 first fruites of the Spirit not to bring forth b Gal. 5.22 the fruites of that spirit in some good abundance in the frequent and comfortable and actuall exercises of those habituall graces that are in vs of Faith Repentance Loue Reformation Zeale and the rest seeing the counterfeits of these graces are oftentimes so eminent euen in Hypocrites and Castawayes Shall a piece of rotten wood or a glow-worme shine so bright in the darke and our holy lampes fed with oyle from heauen burne so dimme Nay c Math 5.16 let our lights also as well as theirs shine before men yea and out-shine theirs too that men may see our truely good workes as well as their seeming ones and glorifie our Father which is in heauen Although all be not gold that glistereth yet pity it is that true gold should gather rust and lose the lustre for want of vsing when Brasse and Copper and baser mettals are kept bright with scowring Let not bleare-eyed Leah haue cause to reioyce against beautifull Rachel or to insult ouer her barrennesse neither let vs who professâ— our selues to be d Math. 11.19 Wisedomes children suffer our selues to be out-stript by Natures brats in justifying our Mother Rather let their splendida peccata prouoke vs to a godly iealousie and emulation and spurre vs vp to the quickning of those Graces God hath giuen vs that the power of Godlinesse in vs may bee at least as fruitfull in all outward performances as the shew of it is in them §. 11. 3. of Admonition to forbear iudging Thirdly this should teach vs caution in our iudging of other mens estates Wee are apt to offend both wayes If we see a man ouertaken with some grosse scandalous sinne as Drunkennesse Adultery Oppression or Periurie but especially if hee liue long therein by and by he is a Reprobate with vs or at least he is not yet in the state of Grace Thus we speake thus we iudge but we consider not the whilest how farre and how long God in his holy wisedome may suffer foule temptations to preuaile against his Chosen ones On the other side if we see a man forward in the duties of Religion charitably affected to the poore iust vpright in his dealings with men stoutly opposing against common corruptions suffering for the profession of the truth by and by he is a Saint with vs and wee sticke not sometimes in our folly to wish that our soules might speed as that mans soule at a venture But we consider not the whilest how farre the force of Naturall Conscience and common Morall Grace if you will allow me to speake so improperly may leade a man onward vnto all outward performances who was yet neuer effectually called nor truely sanctified And yet busie fooles thâ—t wee are wee cannot keepe our selues in our owne bounds but we must be medling with Gods prerogatiue and thrusting our selues into his chaire and be iudging of our brethren whose hearts we are so farre from knowing as that wee are scarce well acquainted with our owne But what haue wee to doe eyther with one or other what lawfull commission haue we at all to iudge or what certaine euidence haue we whereby to iudge Infallible signes we cannot haue from anie outward things eyther of the want or of the hauing of grace in other men yet of the two farre more pregnant probabilities of the want than of the hauing of grace Because there may be such an open course held in euill things as wee may iustly doubt whether such a course can stand with grace or no whereas there cannot bee anie course held in good things outwardly but such as may stand with Hypocrisie What are wee then to doe Euen this to vse the iudgement of Probabilitie hoping with cheerefulnesse that there is Grace where we see comfortable signes of it and to vse the iudgement of Charity still a 1. Cor. 13.7 hoping the best though not without some b Iude 23. feare that there may be Grace where we see feareful signes of the want of it But for the iudgement of Infallibility either pro or con what sinfull man dareth challenge that vnto himselfe vnlesse it bee that c 2. Thes. 2.3 man of sinne who hath nestled himselfe higher than into Peters Chaire into the Throne of God sitting in the Temple of God and there determining as God and with his breath damning and sainting whom he listeth But let him goe and let this bee our direction in this point Thinke wee comfortably where wee see no reason to the contrary Hope wee charitably euen where wee doe see some reason to the contrary But iudge wee neither way peremptorily and definitiuely whatsoeuer probabilities we see either way sith we know not how far a sanctified beleeuer may fall into the snares of sinne nor how farre a gracelesse Hypocrite may goe in the shew of Godlinesse That is the third Vse §. 12 4. of directioÌ„ for the tryall of sincerity The last and maine Inference is for selfe-tryall For if a man may goe thus farre and yet be an Hypocrite bee a Castaway it will concerne euery one of vs as we desire to haue comfortable both assurance of present Grace that wee are not Hypocrites and hope of future Glory that we are not Castawaies so to
desire endeauour of performing that Obedience we haue couenanted yet are they to be embraced euen by such of vs with a reuerend feare and trembling at our owne vnworthinesse But as for the vncleane and filthy and polluted those b Math. 6.6 Swine and Dogs that delight in sinne and disobedience and euery abomination they may set their hearts at rest for these matters they haue neither part nor fellowship in any of the sweet promises of God Let dirty c 2. Pet. 2.22 Swine wallow in their owne filth these rich d Math. 6.6 pearles are not for them they are too precious let hungry e 2 Pet. 2.2 Dogs glut themselues with their owne vomite the f Math. 15.26 Childrens bread is not for them it is too delicious Let him that will be filthy g Reu. 22.11 be filthy still the promises of God are holy things and belong to none but those that are holy and desire to be holy still For our selues in a word let vs hope that a promise being left vs if with faith and obedience and patience we waite for it we shall in due time receiue it but withall h Heb. 4.1 let vs feare as the Apostle exhorteth Heb. 4. lest a promise being left vs through disobedience or vnbeliefe any of vs should seeme to come short of it §. 19. The opening of the Thus much of the former thing proposed the mignifying of Gods Mercy and the clearing of his Truth in the reuocation and suspension of of threatned iudgements by occasion of these words I will not bring the Evill There is yet a Circumstance remaining of this generall part of my Text which would not be forgotten it is the extent of time for the suspending of the iudge I will not bring the Euill in his dayes Something I would speake of it too by your patience it shall not be much because the season is sharpe I haue not much sand to spend I will not bring the evill in his dayes The iudgement denounced against Ahabs house was in the end executed vpon it as appeareth in the sequele of the story and especially from those words of Iehu who was himselfe the instrument raised vp by the Lord and vsed for that execution in 4. King 10. a 4 King 10.10 know that there shal fall to the earth nothing of the word of the Lord which the Lord spake concerning the house of Ahab for the Lord hath done that which he spake by his seruant Eliah Which were enough if there were nothing else to be said to iustifie Gods Truth in this one particular That which Ahab gained by his humiliation was only the deferring of it for his time I will not bring the euill in his dayes As if God had said This wretched king hath prouoked me and pulled down a curse from me vpon his house which it were but iust to bring vpon him and it without farther delay yet because he made not a scoffe at my Prophet but tooke my words something to heart and was humbled by them he shall not say but I will deale mercifully with him and beyond his merit as ill as he deserueth it I will doe him this fauour I will not bring the euill that is determined against his house in his dayes The thing I would obserue hence is That § 20. 5. Obseruation that though it be some griefe to foresee the euils to come when God hath determined a iudgement vpon any people family or place it is his great mercy to vs if he doe not let vs liue to see it It cannot but be a great griefe I say not now to a religious but euen to any soule that hath not quite cast off all naturall affection to forethinke and foreknow the future calamities of his countrey and kindred a Herodot in Polyh Valer. Max. 9.13 Xerxes could not forbeare weeping beholding his huge army that followed him onely to thinke that within some few scores of yeares so many thousands of proper men would be all dead and rotten and yet that a thing that must needes haue happened by the necessitie of nature if no sad accident or common calamitie should hasten the accomplishment of it The declination of a Common-wealth and the funerall of a Kingdome foreseene in the generall corruption of manners and decay of discipline the most certaine symptomes of a tottering State haue fetched teares from the eyes and bloud from the hearts of heathen men zealously affected to their Countrey How much more griefe then must it needes be to them that acknowledge the true God not onely to foreknow the extraordinary plagues and miseries and calamities which shall befall their posteritie but also to fore-read in them Gods fierce wrath and heauie displeasure and bitter vengeance against their owne sinnes and the sinnes of their posterity Our blessed Sauiour though himselfe without sinne and so no way accessory to the procuring of the euills that should ensue could not yet but b Luk. 19.41 weepe ouer the City of Ierusalem when he beheld the present securitie and the future ruine thereof §. 21. yet it is some happinesse to be taken away before they come A griefe it is then to know these things shall happen but some happinesse withall and to be acknowledged as a great fauour from God to be assured that we shall neuer see them It is no small Mercy in him it is no small Comfort to vs if either hee take vs away before his iudgements come or keepe his iudgements away till we be gone When God had told Abraham in Gen. 15. that his a Gen. 15.13 15. seede should be a stranger in a land that was not theirs meaning Egypt where they should be kept vnder and afflicted 400. yeares lest the good Patriarch should haue beene swallowed vp with griefe at it hee comforteth him as with a promise of their glorious deliuerance at the last so with a promise also of prosperitie to his owne person and for his owne time But thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace shalt be buryed in a good old age vers 15. In Esay 39. when Hezekiah heard from the mouth of the Prophet Esaiah that all the b Esay 39 6.-8 treasures in the Lords house in the Kings house should be carried into Babylon and that his sonnes whom he should beget should be taken away and made Eunuchs in the palace of the King of Babylon he submitted himself as it became him to do to the sentence of God and comforted himselfe with this that yet there should be peace and truth in his dayes vers 8. In 4. King 22. when Huldah had prophesied of the c 4. King 2.16 20. euill that God would bring vpon the City of Ierusalem and the whole land of Iudah in the name of the Lord shee pronounceth this as a courtesie from the Lord vnto good King Iosiah Because thy heart was tender and thou hast humbled thy selfe Behold therefore
ends and Dauids children c 2 Sam. 13.29 Ammon and d 2 Sam. 18.15 Absalon and the e Num. 16.37.33 little ones of Dathan and Abiram and others Some haue had losses and reproaches and manifold other distresses and afflictions in sundry kindes too long to rehearse And all these temporall iudgements their fathers sinnes might bring vpon them euen as the faith and vertues and other graces of the fathers doe sometimes conueigh temporall blessings to their posterity So Ierusalem was saued in the siege by Sonacherib for f Esay 37.35 Dauids sake many yeares after his death Esay 37.35 And the succession of the Crowne of Israel continued in the line of g 4 King 10.30 Iehu for foure descents for the zeale that hee shewed against the worshippers of Baal and the house of Ahab So then men may fare the better and so they may fare the worse too for the vertues or vices of their Ancestors Outwardly and temporally they may but spiritually and eternally they cannot For as neuer yet any man went to heauen for his fathers goodnesse so neither to hell for his fathers wickednesse §. 13. An Obiection with the first If it be obiected that for any people or person to suffer a a Amos 8.11 famine of the word of God to bee depriued of the vse and benefit of the sacred and sauing ordinances of God to be left in vtter darkenesse without the least glimpse of the glorious light of the Gospell of God without which ordinarily there can be no knowledge of Christ nor meanes of Faith nor possibility of Saluation to be thus visited is more than a temporall punishment and yet this kinde of spirituall iudgement doth sometimes light vpon a Nation or people for the vnbeliefe and vnthankfulnesse and impenitencie and contempt of their Progenitors whilest they had the light and that therefore the Children for the Parents and Posterity for their Ancestrie are punished not only with temporall but euen with spirituall iudgements also If any shall thus obiect one of these two answers may satisfie them First if it should bee granted the want of the Gospell to be properly a spirituall iudgement yet it would not follow that one man were punished spiritually for the fault of another For betwixt priuate persons and publike societies there is this difference that in priuate persons euery succession maketh a change so that when the father dyeth and the sonne commeth after him there is not now the same person that was before but another but in Cities and Countries and Kingdomes and all publike societies succession maketh no change so that when b Eccles. 1.4 one generation passeth and another commeth after it there is not another City or Nation or People than there was before but the same If then the people of the same land should in this generation bee visited with any such spirituall iudgement as is the remoueall of their Candlesticke and the want of the Gospell for the sinnes and impieties of their Ancestors in some former generations yet this ought no more to bee accounted the punishment of one for another than it ought to be accounted the punishing of one for another to punish a man in his old age for the sinnes of his youth For as the body of a man though the primitiue moysture bee continually spending and wasting therein and that decay bee still repayred by a daily supply of new and alimentall moysture is yet truely the same Body and as a Riuer fed with a liuing spring though the water that is in the channell be continually running out and other water freshly succeeding in the place and roome thereof is truely the same Riuer so a Nation or People though one generation is euer passing away and another comming on is yet truely the same Nation or People after an hundred or a thousand yeares which it was before §. 14. and second answer thereunto Againe secondly the want of the Gospell is not properly a spirituall but rather a temporall punishment Wee call it indeed sometimes a spirituall Iudgement as wee doe the free vse of it a spirituall Blessing because the Gospell was written for and reuealed vnto the Church by the spirit of God and also because it is the holy ordinance of God and the proper instrument whereby ordinarily the spirituall life of Faith and of Grace is conueighed into our soules But yet properly and primarily those only are a Epli. 1.3 spirituall blessings which are immediately wrought in the soule by the spirit of God and can neuer be lost where they are once placed and are proper and peculiar to those that are borne againe of the spirit and all those on the contrary which may bee subiect to decay or are common to the reprobate with the elect or may turne to the hurt of the receiuer are to be esteemed temporall blessings and not spirituall And such a blessing is the outward partaking of the word and ordinances of God the want thereof therefore consequently is to be esteemed a temporall iudgement rather than spirituall So that notwithstanding this instance still the former consideration holdeth good that God sometimes visiteth the sinnes of the fathers vpon the children with outward and temporall but neuer with spirituall and eternall punishments Now if there could no more bee said to this doubt but only this it were sufficient to cleere Gods Iustice since wee haue beene already instructed that these temporall iudgements are not alwayes properly and formally the punishments of sinne §. 15. Temporall euils of children though not properly For as outward blessings are indeed no true blessings properly because Wicked men haue their portion in them as well as the Godly and they may turne and often do to the greater hurt of the soule and so become rather Punishments than Blessings so to the contrary outward punishments are no true punishments properly because the Godly haue their share in them as deepe as the Wicked and they may turne and often doe to the greater good of the soule and so become rather Blessings than Punishments If it be yet said But why then doth God threaten them as Punishments §. 16. are yet after a sort punishments to the Fathers and how if they be not so I answer First because they seeme to be punishments and are by most men so accounted for their grieuousnesse though they bee not properly such in themselues Secondly from the common euent because vt plurimùm and for the most part they proue punishments to the sufferer in case hee bee not bettered as well as grieued by them Thirdly because they are indeed a kinde of punishment though not then deserued but formerly Fourthly and most to the present purpose because not seldome the a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys. in Gen. hom 29. Filij bona valetudo felicitas patrimonium pertiâ—et ad patrem Felicior futurus si saluum habuerit filium infelicioâ— si amiserit Senec. 5. de
punishing one for another §. 23. Consid. 3. from the distinction of impulsiue Causes ariseth from a third consideration which is this That the children are punished for the fathers sins or indefinitely any one man for the sins of any other man it ought to be imputed to those sinnes of the fathers or others not as to the causes properly deseruing them but onely as occasioning those punishments It pleaseth God to take occasion from the sinnes of the fathers or of some others to bring vpon their children or those that otherwise belong vnto them in some kind of relation those euills which by their owne corruptions sinnes they haue iustly deserued This distinction of the Cause and Occasion if well heeded both fully acquiteth Gods Iustice and abundantly reconcileth the seeming Contradictions of Scripture in this Argument and therefore it will be worth the while a little to open it §. 24. The Impulsiue Cause what it is There is a kind of Cause de numero efficientium which the learned for distinctions sake call the Impulsiue Cause and it is such a cause as a quae principalem efficientem impellit ad efficiendum Keckerm 1. Syst. Log. 10. moueth and induceth the principall Agent to doe that which it doth For Example A Schoolemaster correcteth a boy with a rod for neglecting his booke Of this correction here are three distinct causes all in the ranke of efficients viz. the Master the Rod and the boyes neglect but each hath its proper causality in a different kind and maner from other The Master is the Cause as the principall Agent that doth it the Rod is the Cause as the Instrument wherewith he doth it and the boyes neglect the impulsiue cause for which he doth it Semblably in this iudgement which befell Iehoram the principall efficient cause and Agent was God as hee is in all other punishments and iudgements b Amos 3.6 shall there be euil in the City and the Lord hath not done it Amos 3. here he taketh it to himselfe I will bring the euill vpon his house The Instrumental Cause vnder God was c 4. King 9. Iehu whom God raised vp and endued with zeale and power for the execution of that vengeance which he had determined against Ahab and against his house as appeareth in 4. Kings 9. and 10. But now what the true proper Impulsiue cause should be for which he was so punished and which moued God at that time and in that sort to punish him that is the point wherein consisteth the chiefest difficulty in this matter and into which therefore wee are now to enquire viz. whether that were rather his own sinne or his father Ahabs sinne Whether we answer for this or for that we say but the truth in both for both sayings are true §. 25. Two sorts of impulsiue Causes God punished him for his owne and God punished him for his Fathers sinne The difference only this His owne sinnes were the impulsiue cause that deserued the punishment his fathers sinne the impulsiue cause that occasioned it and so indeed vpon the point and respectiuely to the iustice of God rather his own sins were the cause of it than his fathers both because iustice doth especially looke at the desert also because that which deserueth a punishment is more effectually primarily and properly the impulsiue cause of punishing than that which onley occasioneth it The termes whereby Artists expresse these two different kindes of impulsiue causes borrowed from Galen and the Physitians of a See Keckerm 1. Syst. Log. 10. called by Brulif Causa Dispositiua Excitatiua apud Altenst in dict Causa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 would be excellent and full of satisfaction if they were of easie vnderstanding But for that they are not so especially to such as are not acquainted with the termes and learning of the Schooles I forbeare to vse them and rather than to take the shortest cut ouer hedge and ditch chuse to leade you an easier and plainer way though it 's something about and that by a familiar example §. 26. explained by a familiar example A man hath liued for some good space in reasonable state of health yet by grosse feeding and through continuance of time his body the whilest hath contracted many vitious noisome and malignant humours It happeneth he hath occasion to ride abroad in bad weather taketh wet on his feete or necke getteth cold with it commeth home findeth himselfe not well falleth a shaking first and anon after into a dangerous and lasting feuer Here is a feuer and here are two different causes of it an antecedent cause within the abundance of noisome and crude humours that is a interìores dispositiones quae irritantur ab externis causis Melancthon causa dispositiua Brulifer causa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the euident cause ab extra his riding in the wet and taking cold vpon it and that is Galens b Causa externa irritatrix Melancthon causa excitatiua Brulifer causa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let vs goe on a little and compare these causes The Physitian is sent for the sicke mans friends they stand about him and in commeth the Physitian among them and enquireth of him and them how he got his feuer They presently giue him such information as they can and the information is both true and sufficient so farre as it reacheth they tell him the one cause the occasionall cause the outward euident cause Alas Sir he rode such a iourney such a time got wet on his feete and tooke cold vpon it and that hath brought him to all this That is all they are able to say to it for other cause they know none But by and by after some suruiew of the state of the Body hee is able to informe them in the other cause the inward and originall cause whereof they were as ignorant before as he was of that other outward one and hee telleth them the cause of the malady is superfluitie of crude and noisome humours rankenesse of bloud abundance of melancholy tough fleame or some other like thing within Now if it be demanded which of these two is rather the cause of his sicknesse The truth is that inward antecedent cause within is the very cause thereof although perhaps it had not bred a feuer at that time if that other outward occasion had not beene For by that inward hidden cause the body was prepared for an ague only there wanted some outward fit accident to stirre and prouoke the humours within and to set them on working And the parties body being so prepared might haue fallen into the same sicknesse by some other accident as well as that as ouer heating himselfe with exercise immoderate watching some distemper or surfeit in diet or the like But neither that nor any of these nor any other such accident could haue cast him into such a Fit if